MOTUnation.com

Hey, I have the following things:

MOTU M2
Sennheiser HD599 Headphones
Feintech SW212 HDMI Extractor
Y Cable - https://www.amazon.de/dp/B001383Z6E?ref ... title&th=1 (Already tried a different one, both didnt work)

So my goal is to have the switch 2 audio right into my PC through my MOTU M2. I went this way (instead of just simply using Line In on pc) because of better quality / less latency.

The setup (in theory, how it should work) looks like this, which I tried, no luck tho...

Switch 2 -> HDMI Cable -> Feintech SW212.
Plugging the Y Cable 3.5mm Jack into the Feintech SW212 and connect the other end into the 2 backside 6.35mm Ports of the MOTU M2.


My Sennheiser HD599 Headphones are plugged into the front headphone jack of the Motu M2. Which also has my condenser mic through XLR cable connected. They both work fine.

No matter what I try, I am just getting no sound output on my PC. I already tried a different device (Laptop instead of switch, without HDMI extractor) which resulted in no sound either.

When I however tried to plug my Sennheiser HD599 into one of the mono 6.35 backside ports, I was able to hear PC sound, so the ports itself seem to be working? At least one of them, didnt try both. Also trying the Headphones directly plugged into the switch and also plugged into HDMI extractor both resulted into me hearing the switch sound.

I have no idea anymore what to check, maybe someone in here knows more, would be really thankful!

Hopefully explained this understandable enough.

My OS is Windows 11.

Plugging the Y Cable 3.5mm Jack into the Feintech SW212 and connect the other end into the 2 backside 6.35mm Ports of the MOTU M2.

I'm not clear on what you are trying to do but those jacks on the back of the M2 (#12) are line level outputs only. They are designed to drive line level inputs in powered speakers and audio mixers and do not have enough signal level to drive standard audio inputs without a mixer, DI box or step-up transformer to boost the signal.

So the outputs on 12 (the big ones, not small colored ones) are not meant for an external audio device (Laptop, Console, Phone, you name it) which then you can hear on your PC?

Dustn wrote: ↑Thu Jun 12, 2025 3:15 pm So the outputs on 12 (the big ones, not small colored ones) are not meant for an external audio device (Laptop, Console, Phone, you name it) which then you can hear on your PC?

Correct. The M2 is designed to get analog audio into your PC via USB.

To get analog audio from the M2 into anything else, the destination must be able to boost the signal such as powered monitor speakers, the normal use.

Anything other use requires a way to boost the signal. Here are a few ways:

The Morley/Ebtech LLS-2 Line Level Shifter is an excellent, 2-channel passive step up transformer.
https://www.altomusic.com/products/ebte ... l-box-lls2

Either of these Radial active boxes will work—I use the J4+2 with an input volume control.

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... vel-driver

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... direct-box

A mixer like the Mackie ProFX6v3 has the functionality of the MOTU M2 (2 out/4 in over USB, same as the M2) plus the analog out options you are looking for. In addition, as a mixer, you have up to 6 analog inputs.
https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... th-effects

Yea the main goal (just to not have any misunderstanding) is to have audio through the motu on pc. Which is connected through USB. So my external device - my console or whatever audio device with 3.5mm jack port - sends it's audio to the motu interface with the Y cable (3.5mm end connected to the external device which I want to grab the audio from and the 2 mono 6.35mm ends connected to the bigger mono jacks on the backside of the moto). According to official specs / sheets this should be possible. In the end I wanted to send the audio from my external device through the motu into my PC. I'm not sure why all the sheets etc. said it's possible with a Y cable connected to the bigger back jacks.

Dustn wrote: ↑Thu Jun 12, 2025 4:16 pm Yea the main goal (just to not have any misunderstanding) is to have audio through the motu on pc. Which is connected through USB. So my external device - my console or whatever audio device with 3.5mm jack port - sends it's audio to the motu interface with the Y cable (3.5mm end connected to the external device which I want to grab the audio from and the 2 mono 6.35mm ends connected to the bigger mono jacks on the backside of the moto). According to official specs / sheets this should be possible. In the end I wanted to send the audio from my external device through the motu into my PC. I'm not sure why all the sheets etc. said it's possible with a Y cable connected to the bigger back jacks.

Your CombiJacks (#1 with the red circles) are the only way to get Audio In to an M2. The jacks on the back (#11, #12) are Audio Out only.

USB is two channels Audio Out from the M2 to your PC — the audio comes from those CombiJacks that I have circled. In addition, you have four channels Audio In from the PC including Loopback. What you hear at any given moment is determined by how you set the Monitor (#8) button.

I feel that I'm missing something and I'm certain that you are. If you could provide a simple signal flow diagram, that will help — a sketch is fine. You can upload up to three attachments in a post.

I get you now, you are not missing something. Thanks for being so patient!

So the only way of getting my external device's audio into the MOTU m2 (which I need to hear in stereo in the end - through my HD599 Headphones on my PC) is by using the 2 front inputs. One is occupied by my microphone already though. So putting a mixer infront is the only solution?



Im really bad with graphics, but I tried my "want to do" as a graphic.


The HDMI Audio extractor, not sure if you are familiar with it, sends the Video Signal to my Monitor (which works already) and the audio signal through the 3.5mm Jack Output.

Ok, I am clear now. The M2 is 2 channel analog audio In/Out only. Digital I/O is different and I’ll cover that separately. You have three choices.

1. Microphone into either 1 or 2, other audio source into the other channel. This works only if your other source is Mono.

2. Your other audio is stereo. You will need a mixer to blend your stereo audio with your microphone, then out to the M2. Although this gets all three channels of audio into your PC, it’s only two tracks and you must commit to the mix and won’t be able to separate them in your DAW (no, you do not want to count on AI stem separation later). The Mackie I linked to has this same issue—two channels out over USB—only difference is that the mixer is built in.

3. You need a different interface with at least 4 channels I/O such as the MOTU M4. Inputs 1 or 2 for your microphone; Line 3&4 in the back for your stereo audio. The M6 has four CombiJacks + Line In 5&6.

Your DAW will see the outputs of the M2/4/6 as Mono into Mono tracks. Into a Stereo track, 1/3/5 pan hard L while 2/4/6 pan hard R. Remember, there’s no mixer and this cannot be changed. Alternately, you can set all DAW tracks as Mono and create your Stereo tracks from these..

I have no idea if the levels of your HDMI converter are hot enough for the Line Ins of the M4/6. The CombiJacks will have no problem with that. Instrument level keyboards are not hot enough for those MOTU Line Ins without a DI or step-up transformer, again, the CombiJack inputs are fine. I speak from experience.

Nearly all such interfaces have 2 channels digital input + another 2 loop back over USB. This return mix is set up in your DAW by mixing output tracks,, aux tracks or monitor tracks. All MOTU interfaces include a license for Performer Lite with tech support.